Spirits of the Earth

He was lost.

Aye, there were mountains, but they were not his mountains. There were trees, but those of his homeland. His legs knew the slopes, but his heart did not. In nigh half a moon he had not seen one familiar medicine plant. And the beasts...some bled and tasted the same: deer and elk and fish and rabbit. Others were strange. Here there were lizards as great as a longhouse with leather wings like those of a bat. They circled the peaks above him and roared their thunder with the lungs of a hundred bears. They glittered like twisting knives forged of copper and gems. He scarcely believed his eyes.

"What madness is this?" he had asked himself as he gazed, bewildered, up at them. There came no answer. Once, there was another within him, taunting him and driving him to madness until he lay utterly broken. As for the time before it had entered his mind unbidden...he could not recall. Now, there was only silence: blessed, yet unnerving in its rawness. Deafening. He wondered if he was dead at last, and this the realm of his god. There was good hunting here, after all. It was the closest to sense that he had made of anything. If it were so, then he knew that such signs would reveal themselves in time. So he traveled on. Towards what, he did not know.

The morning after the flying lizards, he awoke to rain and birds, broke his fast with the last of his smoked venison, and continued down the rugged valley. For three days, he had followed a babbling creek that cut a rocky clearing and forged the path ahead. Now he made it four. By noon, as his footsteps slowed in anticipation of a short rest, something glinted on the horizon. He cocked his head but could make nothing more of the thing. Was it a city, perhaps? A signal fire? ...Was it a sign? Whatever it could be, it burned bright against the dense forest. He pressed on, propelled if only by a need for certainty.

But it was not a fire, nor was it civilization. No: it was another lizard. The creature lay limp across the rocks. Its massive scales, each as broad as his hand, shimmered and caught the sunlight like fine-hewn jewelry. A woven bracelet hung from its tree-trunk wrist, embroidered with a string of pictures and lines. Had it known people? he wondered. If it had, they were brave indeed to come near such a goliath.

The beast was a small one — smaller, at least, than those of its kin that he had spotted skyward. Yet up close, it was easily the largest animal he had ever witnessed. Larger than the moose. Larger even than the white bear. He circled it cautiously, his hand resting on the ax head at his hip, until he came at last face-to-face with one filmy, clouded eye. He stared for a moment into the void of its catlike pupil, paralyzed by wonderment. Then a fly landed on that glassy surface. He leaned away, the spell broken. The beast was dead.

And then he spotted it: an arrow. And another in its chest, and yet another protruding from its thigh. He bent to inspect the wounds and ran his fingers through smears of thick blood. He drew them back in surprise. His eyes narrowed. The thing was still warm. Still very warm. This was not some lost quarry left to rot. He had stumbled upon a fresh kill. The hunters would not be far.

And far they were not, for no sooner had he stood again then he heard them crashing and yelling and crunching through the underbrush. There were several of them. Three, at least. Enough to cause him more trouble than he wished for without a man at his back. Without a moment's hesitation, he rounded the massive corpse, swung his shield from his back, dug its point into the gravel before him, and crouched. Stealth was a woman's art: meant for smaller bodies and nimbler hands. He did not expect it to last long. Still, he waited.

"I saw her come down by that tree, there, I know she did — "

"She could land on my own mother and I wouldn't come near her," another interjected. "They're hot on our tail. We need to go. Now."

"We're not leaving without those teeth," a third growled. A woman. "We didn't come out this far just to scamper away like scared little mice." An appreciative whistle cut through the sound of rushing water. The hunters stopped in their tracks for a moment, admiring their kill. "There she is. There's our girl. Fan out. Keep an eye on the treeline. And be useful and hand me that saw — wait, what's — "

She had stopped speaking. Feet pounded rock and gravel as she approached. He glanced at his shoulder and scowled. His cloak was brilliant red. What a fool he'd been. He was completely unequipped for this. He stood, shield and ax at the ready, and eyed each of these strangers in turn.

"What in the — "

"Ambush!" the fearful man declared. "I told you we shouldn't have — "

The woman held a hand up. "Shut your damned mouth for one minute, Aren. Will you? Just look at him. He's no tribal. He's not even human." She stepped towards him slowly, her hand resting on the hilt of a wicked sword, ready to draw it. Her eyes darted between his ax, his shield, his horns. He'd seen it a hundred times over. She was sizing him up. She was preparing to attack. "You have one chance to explain yourself, stranger," she growled, "before we gut you and send your corpse over the falls."

He glanced at the others. Could he survive this? He did not know.

He had no other options.

As was often the case when she went out exploring, Axia had opted for her human form today. Being smaller naturally allowed for easier maneuvering around the various plant life, and this form's far more dextrous hands made picking up and examining whatever strange and wondrous object she might come across much easier. There was that, and... well, while dragons were generally pretty well protected in Adela, there was always the chance that she'd run into another dragon that was less than pleased with her for "intruding" on their territory.

That was how things usually went, anyway, but the moment she spotted one such dragon fall from the sky and crash through the nearby trees, it became obvious that today was going to be quite different. By the time she'd made her way to the site of impact, she found that someone had already beat her there- a sturdy-looking man with what appeared to be horns atop his head. Immediately, her curiosity was piqued- it wasn't the first time she'd seen someone with horns, but his specific set wasn't familiar to her.

Could it really be that one man was capable of taking down a dragon all by himself? It wasn't that he looked weak or anything, but still, that was the kind of tale usually reserved for folk stories and drunken ramblings. It didn't even look like he had a bow on him, which definitely didn't add up with the arrows piercing the dragon's body. No, it seemed far more likely that he was more like her- a wanderer that just so happened to stumble across something strange and had decided to investigate.

She watched and waited quietly for a moment, observing as the horned man slowly made his way around the downed dragon. His stance and expression... she'd recognize the meaning behind them anywhere. It was the kind of feeling that she'd all but dedicated her life to chasing, after all! The discovery of something new and unusual was something she could never bring herself to turn away from, even if it was someone else making the discovery this time around.

She was just about ready to emerge from her temporary hiding place and make her presence known when she picked up on the sudden sounds of shouting and people stumbling their way through the woods, convincing her to stay put long enough to get a clearer picture of the situation. A small group of hunters ... judging by the weapons and equipment they carried with them, they were almost certainly the ones responsible for the dragon's death. And by the way the woman in the front threatened the horned man, dragons weren't the only thing they were willing to kill in order to claim their prize. It didn't take a genius to figure that if she chose not to intervene, he didn't stand much of a chance against the three of them at once.

Was it advisable for a dragon to go poking her nose into the business of a bunch of dragon hunters- especially ones that were clearly capable enough to bring one down? Well, maybe not. Almost certainly not, actually. But she'd never been the type to err on the side of caution, and besides, it couldn't be good for her in the long term if people got it into their heads that dragon slaying was a simple task. And hey, if it came down to it, the big guy would have her back, right?

Probably.

Still, though, she would rather not have to fight the hunters to the death if she didn't have to. Perhaps the sight of another dragon would be enough to scare them off and make them think twice about their preferred targets, especially if she was the one catching them by surprise. It was at least worth a shot, she figured...

Those gathered by the fallen beast would notice a sudden flash of light bursting out from some of the nearby shrubs before Axia's newly draconic form came barreling through, placing herself between the hunters and their prey. She snarled at them before unleashing what she thought was a sufficiently intimidating roar, although truth be told, she wasn't exactly the most fearsome dragon around. Hopefully it would be enough to convince them that it wasn't worth trying to mess with her...

"I have nothing to explain," Eln replied. By her stance and her voice, he knew: there would be no talking his way out of a fight. Their leader had already made up her mind. Even if she had not, he had never been silver of tongue. Instead, he dug one heel firmly into the rocks, assured his grip on both ax and shield, and waited. And watched, too, for any movements that might betray their strategy — if they had one. Already, one of the others had begun to circle the dragon to cut off any chance of escape. The woman scowled and drew her blade. It glinted in the dappled sunlight, blinding him for one small moment.

"Fine," she snapped, utterly unimpressed by his show of resistance. "Time to die."

Something caught his eye, but he dared not pry his attention from the imminent threat before him. And yet it grew bright, and brighter still, and soon it lit the scales on that great dead beast aflame. And then: it faded. It was not the sun. The sun did not have feet that pounded against rock and soil like a thunderous avalanche. The three hunters turned, and for the first time since he'd laid eyes on her, their leader knew fear.

"Shit," she hissed. "Back up! Back up! Into the treeline!"

No longer able to stave off his curiosity, Eln turned towards the source of the light and noise just in time to witness yet another of those great lizards. He tilted his head up, then stumbled backwards, mouth agape, his shield arm slacking dangerously. His legs went weak at the sight of such a massive thing. Such a deadly thing, yet so...brilliant, wrought from finest silver, with starry sapphires like the midnight heavens as its eyes. It opened its maw, exposing dozens of sharp, glinting, wicked teeth. It roared. His skull rattled with that deafening sound.

He fell to his knees. His shield dropped and lay against the dead beast beside him. There was no hope in fighting such a creature. Would he die here? Was this the end? Was this an agent of his god come to reclaim him?

Axia stood her ground as the hunters fled, waiting until she was convinced that they wouldn't return before letting out a snort and turning back around to face her new "friend". Except... he didn't look all that pleased with her. In fact, he didn't seem like he was really processing it at all. He was just kinda... sitting there.

Uh oh. She'd broken him, hadn't she? Not this again! She wasn't all that scary, was she? Was it really so much to ask for her to be able to use this form every once in a while without people going all... well, like that? On the other hand, though, the man hadn't gone and bolted yet, so maybe she'd have a chance at fixing things this time! First things first, they'd clearly need to have a little chat in order to calm him down. She slowly lumbered up to him, opening her mouth in preparation to speak before...

...Wait a second. There's no way he'd be able to understand her like this. That was something she probably should have thought about earlier, but usually people would run away before she'd ever get the chance to try! Sheepishly, she stumbled backwards a few steps in a manner that must have looked quite silly for a creature of her size. There was a brief moment of quiet as her scales began to light up in every colour imaginable before her form was enveloped by another blinding flash. By the time the light died down, Axia would once again be standing upright in her human-ish form- although she very nearly toppled over a second later, finding herself surprisingly drained.

Woah. Transforming once usually wan't a problem for her, but apparently doing it twice in such a short time period took a lot out of her. Something she should keep in mind for the future, she supposed, but she had other priorities at the moment. She walked back over to the big guy, her head tilting curiously as she looked him over before remembering that she was supposed to be speaking.

"Oh, right. Uhh, hey there! Sorry about the whole... big scary dragon thing. I was just trying to chase those hunters off, y'know? So you don't need to worry about me hurting you or anything. I mean, not on purpose, at least." She shot the man her best smile, then stuck out her hand in the same way that she'd seen so many humans do when first meeting someone.

"Let's start over, okay? My name's Axia. What's yours?"

The beast came for him on all fours, its mouth open wide. Again, it displayed its impressive teeth. He knew then that it meant to eat him. To swallow him whole and alive like a snake with a rat. To crush him and suffocate him in that dank cave of its throat. Was it just a beast, after all, and not some holy messenger? Still, it was too late for him to run. He had no chance at all against the mighty creature. He stumbled to his feet so that at least he might perish with some dignity, yet he found it difficult to look his death in the eye.

And then, the beast did something peculiar: it stopped. For a moment, he almost thought it made an expression not unlike a human's. Then it backed away from him like a well-trained horse, stood still...and glowed. It was the same blinding, radiant light as before, like the sun splitting through a cloud. He averted his gaze once more and held up a hand to shield his eyes. Then the light faded, and he blinked away the spots in his vision. He lowered his arm. The creature was gone. And in its place...

Eln's heart jolted and he scrambled to kneel again. He bowed his head. It was a god, or some messenger thereof, or some divine spirit at the least, for now before him was the image of a winged woman. She was like the moon itself. She could be nothing else but holy. "Forgive me," he breathed. "I did not realize."

When she spoke, though, her words were odd, and she seemed unsure of herself. Strange, he thought. She reminded him more of a mortal than a celestial being. Her feet stopped within his field of vision, but he dared not look up. "Let's start over, okay?" she said. "My name's Axia. What's yours?"

He stared at the river rocks beneath him for one very long moment. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and stammered. He tried again. "I...Eln-of-Ara. Of Bear Clan. I am yours to command. Such that I..."

There came a rustle from the treeline. He scowled. Of course, he thought. The hunters had never left. From what he had heard, they had come from afar for their quarry, and they would not likely leave without it. "Another time, holy one. The hunters linger. If it would not be an insult to your might, I shall take up arms now." He stood, still averting his eyes, and retrieved his ax and shield. His knees ached fiercely from falling on them to supplicate. Perhaps that pain was penance enough for his clumsiness in the presence of a god.

Something shot from the forest and whistled past his ear. Without a moment's thought, he raised the shield and stepped as reverently around the winged woman as he possibly could. "I believe they mean to slay you," he informed her, his voice still low and even in spite of the arrows that now flew past them both. One struck his shield boss with a dissonant clang and bounced to clatter on the rocks. He ducked and winced at the near miss. "Lady Axia. What is your command?" he called to her.

Axia watched quietly in anticipation as the man struggled to find the right words, shifting her weight restlessly between her feet before letting out a surprised yelp as arrows began to fly past them, coming dangerously close to striking her. It was a good thing that Eln stepped in front of her when he did- if he hadn't done so, it was quite possible that she'd have been caught off guard for long enough for the hunters to hit their mark. It took a moment for her to snap out of her newfound state of shock and realize that the man was still talking to her.

"Okay, umm... just stand still, okay? I'm gonna try some magic. Maybe I can scare 'em off for good this time..."

She sidled up uncomfortably close behind him, peeking her head over his shoulder while pointing one hand past him in a finger-gun-esque pose as the scales along her arm began to light up in preparation. Several thin but intense beams of light were fired from her fingertips, followed by a disconcerting cacophony of wood cracking and splintering as the hunters' cover of trees suddenly burst into flames. Perhaps her plan to flush them out was working a little too well- if the fire got out of hand, it would soon be unsafe for anyone to stick around. She stumbled back, even further drained from her excessive magic usage but still quite aware of the problem she'd just created.

"...Whoops. Okay. Right. Change of plans- we should get out of here. Like, immediately."

Her hand latched around his wrist and she moved to start dragging him away from the hunters and what could very well soon turn into a blazing inferno- although due to her currently weakened state and their general difference in strength, it wasn't likely that she'd be moving him anywhere unless he chose to go along with it.

The goddess Axia was...strange. He had not been wrong on that point. Her lack of confidence. Her indecisiveness. Her choice of words, even. And now, her impulsive actions that had set ablaze the trees before them. All smacked of the inexperience of youth. Eln did not know what to expect of a spirit woman, but it certainly wasn't this. He eyed her warily. Had he not seen her brilliant power for himself, and her incredible lizard form, he could have called her daughter for how young she seemed. Had he been wrong to swear himself to her? Perhaps he, too, was rash.

But all of it fell to the wayside as her hand closed around his wrist. He'd been caught entirely off guard. If he hadn't, the visions might not have assaulted him so. He spun to face her, his stormy eyes boring through her skull. And yet...he was miles away from here, locked, for one infinitesimal moment, in another place and time. His worn countenance flashed first with white-hot rage, then contorted with disgust, then twisted with horror. She was a witch standing over him, and he was alone and afraid and helpless. The old memories — ones he did not even know he had — had sprung from the girl's fingertips to haunt him. Then, like a candle snuffed, it left him again. He realized that he'd been pulling away from her. He slackened, breathing heavily like a winded bull. His eyes watered, and not from the smoke.

What had she said? That they should leave this place?

"...Yes," Eln replied at last, still uneasy at her touch. He redoubled his grip on his shield and shifted it. "That would be wise. If we cross the water, it will buy us time. But..." He looked her over, confused. "Forgive me. Can you not undo what you do? Do you not have command over the very elements? Could not you call the rain?"

Axia flinched back and away from Eln as he turned to deliver his death glare, her grip on his arm releasing as suddenly as it had began. She didn't know what exactly it was that she'd done wrong, but she knew all too well what it looked like when she was in trouble, and this was undoubtedly one of those moments. She was half expecting him to lash out and strike her for her transgression, but when he seemingly calmed down and instead began to speak again, she figured it was safe enough to stick around. Well, safe enough to stick around him at least. There was still the whole... forest on fire thing.

"Well, I kind of do? I mean, I definitely have control over some elemental power. Like light! But I'm not, like, a water mage. Or a weather mage. Or a storm mage. Or anything like that, really. Although I guess I could be, with some practice. Almost anyone could be, really- ahem. Anyways, the point is that I can't put it out, so we really do need to get moving, El... Eln-of-Ara-of-Bear-Clan?"

She managed to get the full name out, giving a brief nod and managing a small smile afterwards. Gods, that was quite the mouthful, wasn't it? It was certainly an interesting name, though, which she appreciated. Had a certain... ring to it. Having learned her lesson about trying to physically lead him away, she instead took a small step away (not too far- no sense in risking getting shot if the hunters were still around) and gestured for him to come along, hoping he'd get the message.

"Mage," Eln repeated with a blank, confused look. He shook his head. He did not know the word. He did, however, grasp the rest of what she'd said. She could not put the fires out. She could only start them. Had she been a boy — an apprentice — he'd have admonished her for such a foolish act. But she was not. She might be strange, but she was still a goddess. He could not question her judgment aloud, even if he now did so silently.

He held his expression admirably neutral given the inferno that crackled and swept up the trees behind him. If she was like a child, he thought, then he would need to help her out of this. She released him and began to step away as though she wished for him to follow. "Yes," he said. "We move. Cross the water, then head for open terrain." His voice grew stronger as he remembered himself. It was far from the first time he'd commanded a contingent over unfamiliar terrain. It was also not the first time he'd run from a wildfire. He leaned his shield up against his leg, shoved his ax hastily in its frog, and bent to remove his boots. It wouldn't do to cover so much ground with wet feet. As he did, he questioned her. "Have you knowledge of this place? Are we near a field or a lake?"

He made quick work of the boots, and as he finished his questions, he shifted his shield to his back, snatched his boots back up from the rocks, and began to wade through the icy water. "Come," he called.

Axia went unusually quiet for the short time it took for them to make their way over to the water. It was becoming increasingly obvious that her constant usage of magic was taking its toll on her level of energy. Her movements were becoming noticeably more subdued, losing a lot of their usual bounciness, and she occasionally took a moment to rub at her eyes as if she'd just woken up and was trying to chase the sleep away. Overall, she just seemed a lot less... sparkly.

It wouldn't last too long, however, as her demeanour shifted when they arrived at the edge of the water. She eyed him curiously as he got to work on his boots, her gaze shifting to his shield, then his axe, then back up to him. For someone who didn't seem particularly knowledgable about the area, he sure was pretty well prepared regardless! She made a mental note to ask him about that later before following along into the water, failing to suppress a squeak as the cold bit into her. It would have been a lot more comfortable to travel through it in her dragon form... oh well. At least it helped to wake her up a bit.

"Ah... well. Let me think. I've flown over this area a few times in the past- just trying to get a general idea of the surroundings before going in to explore more thoroughly. Not that I could spend too long up there, what with all the other dragons flying around. They can get reeeeal grumpy when they think their territory's being invaded, and most of them are bigger than me, so... gosh, I'm rambling again, aren't I? Okay, if memory serves correctly... yeah, there should be a clearing up ahead if we follow the water. I think. It is a pretty big forest..."

The divine Axia...squeaked. Eln whipped around in alarm. "Are you hu—"

But she had not been hurt. He glanced down at her feet, then back up, still holding that same neutral expression steady. It was already proving difficult to do so. His strange new companion had merely stepped into the water and, like a child, found it too cold for her liking. What was she doing out in these mountains? How did she survive if she was so fussy over nothing? But the water did not slow her pace, nor, it would seem, her tongue. She chattered away again as they made their crossing, and he turned an ear to listen. When they finally made it to the other side and splashed out onto the rocks, he tossed his boots down gently and turned to face her.

"You think," he said. There was a lengthy pause as he surveyed their surroundings. A frown began to set in to the creases of his worn, scarred face, made stark by the glow of the raging wildfire. He sighed the weary, defeated sigh of a father whose offspring went not a day without trouble. "Lady Axia," he continued, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the crackle and roar. "With every word, you doubt the one before. It is not my place, yet I must ask. Are you lost?"

Axia returned his frown, instantly recognizing the sentiment behind it. Yet another expression that she'd become intimately familiar with over the years. This one meant that he was about to start patronizing her. Usually she'd be happy enough to just tune it out and continue on with whatever it was she was doing without a care in the world, but this one felt... different. Like she was supposed to feel ashamed that she'd already failed to meet some unspoken expectation of his, despite the fact that they'd only just met and she was the one who'd stepped in to save him.

No, this time she wasn't willing to let it slide.

"I most definitely am not lost! It's a really big place, okay?! I just needed a moment, for gods' sake!" She snapped at him, her words underlined by the quiet rumblings of what sounded like a low growl. "Besides," she continued, "explorers are never lost. The whole point is to go places that you don't know everything about. If you're getting 'lost', that means you're doing it right."

She realized a bit too late that she'd been taking a harsher tone than she had originally intended, and she decided to back off a bit, crossing her arms and purposefully avoiding looking him in the eye. It was less of an outright angry stance and more... moody?

"Look. If you've got any better ideas, you're welcome to speak up. Maybe you really do know better than I do, after all. But if you don't, then you could at least have a little more faith in me. I'm not a hatchling."

Eln stood barefoot on the shore, wet toes gripping the rocks, and waited patiently for the young woman to finish. She was clearly affronted by his question — as was her right. Still, even as a man of his lowly station, he knew now that she was ill-equipped to deal with the problem at hand. Every so often, his eyes flickered towards the inferno behind her. It was growing dangerous. He could feel the heat radiating towards them like a bellows to the coals, sapping the moisture from his skin. Sooner or later, a spark would jump the stream, and this side would go up in flames, too. They had to keep going.

Something moved across the water. He blinked. Squinted. For one moment, he thought he spied one of the hunters. Then the thing was gone, and he shook himself. Still, it remained there in the back of his mind: a warning that they might not be alone. He wanted to be ready for it. He shoved his feet back into his boots, tied them tight, and returned his attention to Lady Axia.

She had crossed her arms and now appeared the spitting image of a sulking child. Yet something about her mood was almost familiar: like an ancestor, his kin, reaching for him from beyond. The creases of his brow softened in spite of his alarm at her inexperience. His eyes sparkled, if only for a moment. "It was not my place, Lady Axia," he said again by way of apology. "But we should leave. This is not the time to — "

CRRRACK.

The charred trunk of a massive tree fell loose from its stump. It stood on end, and for a moment it seemed that it would fall back into the glowing depths of that massacred forest. Then it leaned, and leaned harder, and dropped towards them like a stone, embers streaming in its wake. "MOVE!" Eln roared. Without a moment to spare, he dropped his shield, bolted for the winged goddess, and shoved her to safety. But he'd been clumsy in his haste. The impact tripped him, and he staggered. He scrambled over the rocks, but it was too late. With a crash, the tree landed, and its mighty branches knocked him violently to the shore. His knee struck the ground in a flash of splitting agony. Teeth clacked against teeth as his head hit stone. And Eln-of-Ara passed into smoke and darkness.

Axia paid seemingly little attention to him or their surroundings as he responded, but it was less easy to ignore when he suddenly shouted for her to move and came barreling towards her. She was caught way off guard and offered barely any resistance as he shoved her out of the way, giving a startled cry as she immediately lost her balance and tumbled hard onto the rocks next to the shore. A few of the sharper ones drew blood as they dug into her back, but all things considered, she definitely got off easier than Eln. Her eyes lit up with worry as the fallen tree crashed into him, and she hurriedly clambered to her feet, stumbling up to the fallen tree and spotting her unconscious saviour through the cover of branches and smoke.

Oooooh gods. Don't be dead. Don't be dead...

She reached down and grabbed at his body in an attempt to drag him away from the fallen tree, struggling in vain to move him before letting out a startled yelp and pulling her arms back as the growing flames hungrily lashed out at them. It was a good thing that some of her scales persisted in this form, seeing as they protected much of her arms from the fire and left them with only light burns when she could've gotten much worse. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to move him in her current state, and it was doubtful that she had enough energy left in her for another shift.

But just maybe...

She had an idea. It was an incredibly dangerous idea, but it was all she had at the moment and she didn't exactly have the luxury of spending time coming up with something better. In order to get the transformation to work, she'd need to gather a lot of energy very quickly. And if she recovered energy by absorbing light, well... it only made sense that the closer she got to a light source, the more she'd absorb from it.

She moved to lean back over Eln, her wings curling around his body and forming a makeshift shield. The wall of scales would serve the dual purpose of protecting the two from the approaching flames as well as collecting as much energy as possible. They were fireproof enough to prevent her from getting seriously injured, but the rest of her body was hardly equipped to handle such temperatures. Within moments, she found herself blinking back tears, though she couldn't be sure if they were due to the smoke, the blazing heat, or simply the distressing nature of the situation she'd placed herself in.

Come on... just need a little bit more...

Her scales began to glow with a white-hot light, quickly outshining the advancing flames before finally enveloping the girl as she made one last shift into her natural form. Her claws just barely avoided putting some nasty holes in Eln's body as they dragged him away from the burning tree. At least the immediate danger was over with, but it clearly wasn't safe to stay put and wait for him to come to- if the fire or falling trees didn't do them in, surely the smoke would get to them eventually.

She curled one claw underneath his body and scooped him up as delicately as she could manage, which was easier said than done seeing as he wasn't exactly a small guy. Once she'd secured her grip on him, she turned to follow the creek and launched herself as best she could with her remaining legs, narrowly avoiding another disaster as she tore through several branches and came far too close to clipping a few trunks on her way up. She flew high up enough to clear the treeline before shifting her focus entirely into keeping herself airborne and flying straight forward, quickly losing track of how long they'd been airborne. It was only when she spotted the trees in the distance give way large open field that she allowed herself to relax a bit. She knew it was around her somewhere! Kind of. Definitely didn't just get incredibly lucky.

She eased up as they began their decent, hoping to slow down enough for a relatively gentle landing by the time they reached the ground. Of course, a "gentle" landing for a creature of her size was still going to be somewhat destructive, and her claws still ended up tearing a short line of grass and dirt as they touched down and brought her to a grinding halt. She laid Eln down into the grass, nestling her head against his chest to confirm that he was still breathing before circling around him and unceremoniously collapsing on the ground, one wing coming to rest protectively over his body. She was fast asleep mere seconds later, finally having the chance to recharge her energy as she basked in the sunlight.

He dreamed the mountain took him in its grasp and breathed first fire, then ice upon him. Coals burrowed through skin to find raw flesh. Something bit at his legs, his arms, his back. He groaned from the pain, but could not move. There was no reprieve. There was no escaping it. Then it was gone, and his stomach dropped, and he flew through the starless dark.

He awoke to throbbing skin and a parched throat. To the acrid stench of burnt hair and wood fire that mingled with the fresh mountain breeze and...something else, like a snake, but far less pungent. Behind him, a warm, scaled boulder rose and fell. Strange, he thought. He peeled apart singed lashes and gazed at his leathery shelter. Its walls glimmered like precious metals. Its stakes were living flesh and bone. The whole thing rested on cool, dewy grass. It was a wing, he realized. And at his back, the beast to whom said wing belonged.

"Lady Axia," he mumbled. There was no response. He said it again with all the force he could muster, but only succeeded in sending himself into a coughing fit. It was enough noise to wake the soundest sleeper. Still, she lay quietly, and only her steady heaving told him that she was well alive. He watched her side rise and fall, her glinting scales tarnished with smears of charcoal. He thought back to his last waking moments. To shoving her — then, in the form of a woman — from the path of the falling tree. And then...nothing. Only hot, oppressive darkness and the choke of ash. Had he fallen? Had she saved him? Then absent a purpose, he would watch over her in turn. And he could not do so while shielded by her great wing.

Slowly, with a stiffness that betrayed his years, Eln rose to his feet. As he shifted, stripes of burnt flesh pulled taut over his bruised ribs. He grimaced. Burns were slow to heal — and slower yet when one was long of horn. Traveling would be all the more difficult, now. Perhaps rest was the right idea. Still, he thought he should assess the situation.

He ducked beneath the holy woman's mighty shoulder and stumbled, blinking and squinting, into a sunlit field. He shielded his eyes with his arm and surveyed the scene. By the sun and warmth, it was late afternoon. By the green of the leaves, he knew that the season would grant them a few more hours of daylight. In the distance, a plume of smoke billowed: a reproach of Lady Axia's questionable wisdom. Yet they were safe, thanks to her, and he saw no hunters along the forest's edge. Sighing, Eln turned back towards the goddess, found a good-sized boulder near her lizard's head, and sat. And, though his stomach had begun to growl, he waited.

It wouldn't be too long afterwards before the dragon stirred from her own slumber. Axia released a great yawn before lazily climbing to her feet and stretching out her massive body in a manner much like that of a cat. Next came her wings which briefly extended out to their full length, a variety of colours dancing across her scales as they caught the rays of sunlight in new ways. She brought one claw up to her mouth, beginning to lick idly at the wounds she'd sustained while pulling Eln away from the fire, only to freeze completely in her tracks as she caught a glimpse of the man out of the corner of her eye.

Oh. Right. She'd brought him here, hadn't she? He must have woken up before her.

...How long had he been watching her for?

Her claw abruptly planted itself back down in the grass as she whipped around to face him, getting her first real look at the full extent of his injuries. To put it lightly, it looked like he'd suffered a lot for his attempt to keep her out of danger. Yet for whatever reason, it seemed he'd decided to stay long enough for her to wake up. Was he too badly injured to keep travelling on his own? Had he stuck around just so he could yell at her? Or... did he really care that much about her safety?

There was a part of her that wanted to remain in her current form and try to avoid the awkward conversation that was bound to happen if she shifted back. But she couldn't very well pretend like nothing had happened between them, could she? It would only get more awkward if he decided to start talking anyways and she had no way of responding other than vague gestures. And for whatever it was worth, he didn't actually look like he was angry with her. Maybe it wouldn't actually be that bad?

There was a peculiar burst of light that by now must have become quite familiar, and Axia once again returned to her human-ish form, revealing a variety of minor scratches and burns dotting her arms and back around her patches of scales- probably the best outcome one could have hoped for, considering how much danger she'd been in when they were inflicted. She sat in the grass for now, gazing blankly up at Eln as she struggled to shake off her sleepiness.

"Good morning," she eventually managed, offering a small smile which faded almost immediately as she took note of the sun's position in the sky. "I mean. Afternoon? Wow, I must have been totally wiped out. You haven't been waiting for too long, have you?"

In the time it took for the goddess to awake, Eln's wounds began to gnaw. He inspected them. The tree must have burned through his cloak and tunic, for there were scorched and ashen tears in both, and his back throbbed and stung. Below his left horn, a tender bruise had begun to swell, and a gash at its center still bled. He surmised that he had struck his head upon the rocks. He thought he must have dropped his shield there, too. He was fortunate to have survived.

His stomach protested again. He had been foolish not to catch some fish and restore his rations while he'd had the chance. Now, in this open meadow, there would be very little to eat except for roots. Eln surveyed the scene once more, seeking stalks of purple flowers with the keen eyes of a man accustomed to wilderness. There. And there. The unassuming plants dotted the landscape, peeking up through the tall grass. It would be enough, he thought, to stave off the weakness of hunger. He wondered idly if the goddess Axia could even eat such simple fare. Perhaps she would be insulted if he offered. But she had saved his life, and she did not seem suited to survival, so he would try.

He produced his knife, found a sturdy branch, and began to whittle. It was not long after that Lady Axia, still in her lizard form, awoke from her slumber. Eln focused intently on his work, driven by his stomach and by a wish to grant her some privacy. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a brilliant flash. Now she was small again. Vulnerable. He wondered why she would take such a form at all, but it was not his place to know.

"Yes. Afternoon," he confirmed, inclining his head out of respect. He paused in his whittling and looked up at her. "No," he said simply. "Not long." Then he returned to his work again and peeled another careful curl of wood from the digging tool. "You saved my life," he continued. It was not a question. It was simply a statement — a truth. "I am indebted. Though..."

Eln glanced up again and winced as he did so. He could not hide his concern. "I cannot offer you much, goddess. You should fly from this place. It will grow dark soon. And...one of your hunters may yet live." He stood, brushed wood shavings from his tunic, and stowed his knife. "I do not have any meat to give you. Do you eat plants?"

"Plants? I mean, I suppose so. Usually I'd just go hunting if I got hungry while out in the wild like this. Like, go catch a deer or something. That is what dragons usually do, after all. But this form can eat all kinds of different foods! That's one of the perks of being able to change back and forth like this- I can usually find something that one of the forms can eat."

She watched intently as Eln whittled away at the wood, wondering what exactly it was he'd been creating. Some sort of harvesting tool, she supposed, if he was indeed intent on foraging for some plants to eat. Apparently he also intended to feed her, which she wasn't really sure how to feel about. Insulted? Maybe a little bit, but she couldn't bring herself to be too angry with him given what they'd just been through.

"You really don't need to try to find food for me, though. You saved my life, I saved yours. I'd say that makes us about even. Besides, I wouldn't have lasted long on my own if I wasn't able to find food for myself, right?"

Her chatter came to a small pause and she took a moment to stretch out her arms, her eyes briefly falling closed as she attempted to shake off the last of her fading tiredness. It was only after a few seconds of stretching that a particular word Eln had used finally registered in her mind, and her eyes snapped back open to shoot him a puzzled look.

"Wait a minute. 'Goddess'? That's a little..." There was something about that term that made her massively uncomfortable, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Was he really that fond of her? He'd been protective of her, sure, but she hadn't really gotten the impression that he particularly liked her. Or... maybe she should be interpreting it literally? Adelans did tend to hold their dragons in deep reverence, so it was possible that this was just his way of expressing a similar sentiment. Still, though...

"Um. Don't you think that's a bit too... generous? You can just call me by my name, you know. I'm not all that special."

Eln gripped the sharp stick and awaited her answer. As before, Lady Axia used many words to say comparatively little. He found it difficult to fish her meaning from beneath the debris. And yet, one in particular called to him. A foreign word. Draken. She'd said it once before as he bowed before her. His brow furrowed as he tried to understand what it meant. Was this the name of the great lizards? Draken?

She babbled on, again like a child, and Eln chose to use the time to his advantage. He knelt next to one of the purple flowers and began to dig for the bulb that hid just beneath the soil. "You speak true," he replied, though he still had his doubts that she was capable. "But I will need to eat soon. You are welcome to what I find, if it pleases you." The camas bulb came loose: a deep brown thing the size of a quail's egg, still attached to its pearlescent stem. He set it aside and started towards another.

"Wait a minute. 'Goddess'? That's a little..."

She seemed...ill at ease. Eln stopped. He looked back up in time to watch the goddess Axia shift from uncomfortable, to alarmed, and then back to discomfort again. But why? Unless...

"Um. Don't you think that's a bit too... generous? You can just call me by my name, you know. I'm not all that special."

He stayed silent as he pieced together what he knew. His strange companion possessed unbelievable strength and power. Yet her jarring immaturity had nagged at him. And now, she denied that she was a goddess at all. Should he believe her? And if she was no immortal, then...

His eyes narrowed. He set the digging tool down and began to reach for his ax. He cursed himself for dropping his shield. If she was what he now suspected, there was very little chance that he would leave this place alive — if he was alive at all to begin with in this foreign world of dreams and magic.

He should ask, though. She might be an innocent.

"Lady Axia," he began, still kneeling in the grass. If there had been any kindness, any warmth to his voice before, it was now gone. That same fury began to bubble forth as she'd called upon when she grasped his arm. The veil between that verdant meadow and his dark memories wore perilously thin.

"Are you a witch?"

She watched for a moment as Eln began to dig away at the plants, making a mental note to herself to try them out for herself in the future if she found herself looking for food- if Eln was confident enough to eat them, that probably meant they were safe, right? Truth be told, she was curious to discover what they tasted like, but she really didn't want to give off the impression that she needed to rely on someone else for survival- she had enough trouble trying to be taken seriously already. Instead, she managed to tear her eyes away and refocus her gaze on the distant smoke, resisting the urge to turn back even when he addressed her with a question.

If he had any hostile intent towards her at that moment, she was blissfully unaware of it. She'd never been particularly good at picking up on that sort of thing- partly because she tended to pay less attention to it than she probably should, but also because most people were quick to realize that trying to mess with her was way more trouble that it was worth. It probably didn't help that he hadn't expressed much towards her other than confusion and what she could only describe as disapproving-parent-voice. She didn't have much of a reference to determine what angry Eln was supposed to sound like, so when he asked if she was a witch, she was earnest and chipper in response, quite pleased to be moving on from the whole... goddess thing.

"Sure, you could call me that. At least, I'm not not a witch. I do use a lot of magic, soooooo... yeah! Witch, mage, whatever you want to call it. I'm not particularly picky. It is sort of an odd thing to ask, though, don't you think? I would have thought it'd be obvious from all the transforming. And the light magic from before, remember? Er, do you remember? I guess you did hit your head pretty hard when that tree fell, so it's possible that you forgot. Here- like this, see?"

With that, she held her hands out in front of her, palms facing the sky as a soft glow gathered and swirled around them. With a few subtle movements from her fingers, the light twisted and separated into a multitude of colours, arching to form a miniature rainbow that stretched from one palm to the other. Satisfied with her work, Axia finally turned to face him once again, an expectant smile on her face as she anticipated his reaction.

She confirmed it, and then...

And then, he did not hear the rest. He did not need to. She was a witch, and all a witch's words were lies. A blackness crept in from the edges of his vision, reaching its questing tendrils forth, obscuring the sun, the meadow, the trees, until all he could see was her. It sunk down his throat and grasped his innards and twisted them tight until he knew his own fear. The memories burst forth again: the ones he must have buried so very, very deeply. And now, this was not a meadow at all, but a dark forest at the edge of an iron bog. And she was not a young, bumbling, foolish woman, but the sly and venomous one of his nightmares. And he would cut her down, or he would die in the attempt.

The witch cast her spell. Its light was meant to blind him. He stood. He drew the ax. And with a great bellow, he charged and swung.

Remaining quite oblivious until the very last moment, Axia had little time to react to Eln's sudden attack, but she managed to get her arms in position quickly enough to block it. A metallic clang rang out as her scales thankfully did their job, preventing the axe from slicing into her flesh, but they couldn't do much to absorb the force behind it. She found herself being knocked to the ground, barely keeping the weapon from sliding down and burying itself into a more vulnerable area. A flash of pain shot through her arms, and she once again had to hold back tears- though she couldn't be sure if they were due to the physical pain or the sting of betrayal.

It didn't make any sense. Was he just another would-be dragon hunter like the others they'd encountered? If that was the case, why would he bother going through the effort of protecting her earlier? Was he really so obsessed with getting the kill himself that he was willing to put his own life on the line for it?

She struggled to look past the axe and catch a glimpse of his face, only to be met with the same expression she'd witnessed earlier after attempting to lead him away from the fire. Not greed or cold indifference, but pure rage and hatred. Whatever this was about, it was definitely personal. Something she'd done had made him angry enough to want to kill her, and she wasn't particularly keen on letting him have his way. Summoning the resolve to fight back, Axia desperately kicked upwards at Eln's body, hoping that his enraged state was enough of a distraction for him to leave himself vulnerable.

The ax should have struck flesh and sunk deep and drawn blood. Instead, it glanced from the witch's arm like she herself was a blade. Eln hadn't expected it. He stumbled. Still, the woman was of slight build, and the force of his swing had knocked her to the ground. He caught his balance and again strode towards her, his steel eyes murderous. Those dark tendrils crept in further and stole his sight and tainted what was true. All he could see now was the witch. Not the glittering one before him, but her: wild hair and painted skin and stained lips twisted into a knowing smirk. The gentle scent of earth and grass became the choke of ash and sour vomit. Justice had slipped from his fingers once before. He would exact it now.

He raised his arm to swing again —

Pain. Blinding, nauseating, paralyzing pain that struck all thoughts from his mind. "Agh!" he roared, and stumbled back again. His ax slipped from his fingers. He fell with it, and his shoulder hit a cushion of tall grass. He writhed there, groaning and grasping about desperately like some deranged animal. His eyes watered. He thought he might be sick. He knew this pain...though...it had been some time since he'd been dealt it. But...she was a witch. With her powers over the very elements, why would she choose to do...this?

He groaned again and tried in vain to prop himself up. He had to be ready. He had to keep going, keep fighting. He glanced around him, still wild from the agony, and found her. But she was no longer the woman he'd sought to slay. She was still a witch, yes. But she was not his witch. She was young again, and silvery, and winged, and...frightened. Frightened in the way a child might be, had a man of his size just attacked her. His heart sunk. Was it a trick? Would she pretend to be innocent, only to gut him when he least suspected? He closed his eyes. He tried to shake the confusion. He had no answers.

Axia's kick struck true and Eln stumbled away from her, his axe landing dangerously close to her after slipping from his grasp. She took the brief window of opportunity to put some distance between them, scrambling backwards while still keeping her eyes on him- she wasn't about to turn her back to him after that. Her arms remained in their defensive position, and the scales running along them began to emit a subtle glow, preparing to release a blinding flash of light if Eln were to attack again. The attack never came, though, and eventually she let her guard down slightly to find Eln struggling to get back on his feet.

Truth be told, it probably wouldn't be particularly difficult for her to kill him at this point. He was clearly in no condition to continue fighting against her if she shifted again, and even if he did have the strength to do so, he didn't seem to be making an effort to claim his axe. He was just sort of... sitting there. Like all of his will to fight had suddenly left his body, and he was just waiting for her to finish him off. Had she really hurt him that badly? He wasn't exactly in the greatest condition after the whole forest fire incident, so she supposed it was possible, but something about the way he'd looked at her... something just wasn't right about it.

Finding herself at a complete loss as to what she should do with him, Axia simply sat still for a moment, eyes shifting back and forth between Eln and his axe until she was convinced that he wasn't about to try attacking again. Once she was, she allowed her arms to lower a bit more, settling in a crossed position over her chest.

"Why?"

She tried her best to keep up a brave face when she finally gathered her composure enough to speak up, but there was no hiding the shakiness in her voice.

"Why? It wasn't enough for you to just let me die when you had the chance? I thought I could trust you!"

The woman's voice jolted him from his stupor. He scrambled to his feet and stumbled backwards. It still stung where she had kicked him. Had he deserved it? By her tone, he certainly did. And if she was a witch, and this an act, then it was a performance honed to a perfect point. But...

Was she? Was it? He closed his eyes again and shook his head like a man shook water from his ear. "You know my reason. Stay away," he rasped, and took another step back. He pointed an accusatory finger. "Stay away from me, witch." His wide, fearful eyes darted to his fallen ax. He couldn't retrieve it. Not without risking attack. He met her gaze again. The pain in that young countenance struck him harder than any blow she might have dealt.

What was he doing? Had the knucklebones fallen differently, she could have been his daughter. And he had just...he had...

But she had said so herself: a witch.

He blinked as if to clear the blur from his mind. He took another step back. His heel caught the boulder he'd sat upon earlier, and he fell right back down to sit on it again. He hung his head and stared at the grass at her feet and tried to get his bearings again.

Not a witch, he told himself. Not a witch. Another place. Another meaning to the word. Not a witch.

He still labored for breath from what little they had fought. Was it the thin air, or was he truly so old? "Trust?" he echoed, sounding utterly lost and defeated. She still spoke like a child. Like a child betrayed. "No. Were I you, I would not trust a stranger in a lawless place."

He glanced back up at her. "I am sorry," he said, and he meant it. "I should never have...There is something...wrong with me. With my mind. It would be better if you stayed away."

His initial response only served to get Axia even more worked up. Was he lecturing her again? Really? After all this, he still had the audacity to tell her what she was doing wrong?

"Don't you dare try to tell me who I should and shouldn't trust. You'd be dead if I hadn't trusted you from the beginning." She snapped at him, and immediately felt bad for doing so. She wanted so badly to dig for something more hurtful, to wound his feelings in the same way that he'd done to her, but she found her will to fight draining quickly as his apology began to sink in. He really did seem like he meant it, like he was just as lost and confused about his actions as she was.

His answers weren't enough to satisfy her, though. She needed more from him- both her curiosity and her wounded trust demanded it. He'd told that she should stay away from him, but she'd never been the type to let someone else's advice get in the way of her doing what she wanted. And so, after taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes before they could fully take form, she made her way over and took a seat in the grass next to the boulder, her back and head resting against the rock.

"...Why are you so afraid of me? I never wanted to hurt you."

The woman admonished him. He deserved as much, and more. He hadn't done any physical damage, but he could have. It had been too close. If she hadn't had the good sense to block him with her magic scales, she might have been seriously injured. It was clear, though, that he'd frightened her. She was angry. Her eyes welled with tears that she did not want him to see.

She started forward. A witch. Not a witch. A witch again. Eln stiffened and his hand jerked towards an empty ax frog. Not a witch. He shoved aside his instinct to fight and to flee. He stayed on the boulder against his better judgment. He let her approach.

"...Why are you so afraid of me? I never wanted to hurt you," the woman Axia said.

He winced and scowled again as the innocent question conjured those same nauseating memories. They sapped him of his reason and his strength. His mind was a blur. He couldn't find the words. How could he explain a thing that he could not grasp himself? And to someone so young.

"I..."

Eln rubbed his face and shook his head. Every time he tried to focus, the memories slipped further into shadow. "I do not know. It is like fearing a snake, or a long drop from a cliff. The reason is there. But I cannot...I cannot remember."

He looked down at her. "I am sorry," he repeated. "My mind is broken."

It was as he'd said. He did not wish to pursue those thoughts any longer. He stood, dusted himself off, and retrieved his digging tool, as well as the bulbs he'd abandoned in the grass. He knelt next to yet another flower, avoiding her eyes. "You will not listen to me, I see," he observed as he dug again.

His answer was as frustrating as it was cryptic as it was frustrating. What on earth was she supposed to make of that? She supposed that she couldn't force him to give a proper explanation if he wasn't capable of doing so, but it did little to improve her mood or satisfy her curiosity.

Once again, she found herself watching Eln dig away at the flowered plants. The situation was now quite similar to how it had been just a few minutes ago- if it weren't for the newly formed air of unease, there was shockingly little evidence to show that there had ever been a fight between the two. She briefly glanced over at his axe- still lying harmlessly in the grass. If he really intended on trying to hurt her again, he was certainly giving her plenty of time to prepare herself.

"You're right, I won't listen. Not if all you're going to say is that you want me to leave, at least. I think I've made it pretty clear that I can take care of myself. Even if you... well, you know." She shifted around a bit uncomfortably, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her arms on top.

She knew it was probably a bad idea to push him further on an answer for his attack, but she couldn't bring herself to put it completely out of her mind- at least not yet. It certainly didn't seem likely that she was going to get a clear explanation for it, but... maybe she could get idea about it if she knew a little more about him?

"If you don't want to talk about that anymore, maybe we can talk about something else. Like, hmm... oh, I know. Where are you from? Eln-of... of..." She tilted her head slightly as she racked her memories for the name he'd told her earlier, but ultimately found herself coming up short. "Um. I... may have forgotten the rest of it. Sorry."

"As is your right," Eln replied in concession. He knew he should recognize her authority, but it was still difficult for him not to treat her like a young one. "You may choose not to listen. It was but a warning." He said it all with the dull, defeated tone of a man who bore the shame of his actions. For he was ashamed. Could have killed her, he rebuked himself as he pried the last bulb from the ground. There was enough for both of them. He gathered them all into a pile. Now, he would need to make a fire.

Slowly, so as to not seem a threat, he rose to his feet. He still refused to meet the woman's gaze. She asked him a question. She asked where he was from. He dusted the dirt from his hands, tossed the digging tool to the grass, and tried to remember. There were flashes of a valley. Great, ancient, needled trees. Moss underfoot. Cliffs of black basalt, and white water thundering over them. Mountains, impossibly tall, their razor peaks scraping the sky. And then...gone. All gone. Reduced to ash. "I do not know," he replied. "...Not here," he added. He shot her a furtive glance. "We need a fire. I should find wood."

He ignored her question about his name. It surely did not matter.

Eln stepped slowly towards his ax, still eyeing her apologetically. He stood over it. He did not stoop to lift it. "I will need this," he explained. "For the wood. May I?"

He didn't know. Again. It sure seemed like there was a lot about himself that he didn't know. Could it really be that he'd forgotten all of it? Or was that just the excuse he was using in order to avoid giving her any real answers?

It really did seem like Axia's questions weren't going to get any answers at this point, and every attempt to press him further only seemed to make him even more reluctant to respond. Maybe the best solution would be to leave it be for now and give him some time to come around, but... well, it wasn't like she could just call him nothing, and "Eln-of-I-forgot-the-rest-of-it" wasn't a particularly appealing alternative. She supposed he'd just have to be "Eln", at least for the moment.

She tensed up slightly when Eln asked permission to retrieve his axe, clearly not too thrilled with the thought of him with a potential weapon back in has hands. On the other hand, allowing him to take it would probably help to build up some trust- maybe there was still a chance for her to get some answers after all! Besides, surely he wouldn't be cruel or foolish enough to swing at her again, right?

"...Alright, you can take it. But..." She swiftly pushed herself off the ground and up to her feet, managing a hopeful smile despite the uneasy atmosphere. "I do want to go with you. Can't have you wandering off on your own, now, can I?"

Eln did not pick up the ax, but rather hesitated on the spot as he slowly worked past his own confusion. Had this Axia woman not demonstrated witchly powers, he would take her authority at face value with no question — even with so few years behind her. But this was a complication. An in-between. She was not a witch, but she was. His station could not reflect something so ambiguous. He would need to choose, one way or the other.

He chose what was familiar.

"Yes, Lady Axia," he replied, inclining his head in respect. He bent and lifted the heavy ax from the grass, stowing it securely in its frog. As he did so, he gazed out over the clearing and squinted at the tree line in the direction from whence they had come. "If they lived, and they tracked you," he murmured, before solemnly addressing her again. "It will not be long. Without my shield, I am useless against a bowman, and thus to you. Be wary."

Eln gave a quick, sharp nod, as though he was certain that the lady Axia took his meaning. Then, with a swirl of his crimson travel cloak, he was off, striding through the grass. He did not look to see if she followed, but rather moved with a singular focus as he scanned that dark line where grass met forest. He kept his hand off his ax, though habit urged him to be at the ready. He did not wish to frighten her again.

Eln slowed as he approached the underbrush that marked the start of the wood. He took in his surroundings, keeping an ear towards the trees, his brow furrowed in concern. One well-aimed arrow would be the end of him now that he was so vulnerable. He was not accustomed to this, especially not with a charge in tow. Still on alert, he unfastened his cloak, laid it out flat on the duff, and began to gather the driest wood he could find.

There it was again- Lady Axia. It still felt a bit strange to be referred to in such a manner- the number of people she'd come across that respected her enough to grant her a title like that were few and far between, and she still couldn't get a good read on how exactly Eln felt about her. At first it was borderline worship, then it was treating her like a child, then it was trying to kill her, and now... well, she supposed that if any version of Eln was going to stick around for good, she'd much prefer it to be this one, so it was probably best for her not to complain too much.

Axia acknowledged his warning about the hunters with a brief nod, but all things considered, she couldn't bring herself to get too concerned about the idea. She found it highly unlikely that they would risk their lives anymore that they'd already done, so while she did keep an eye on their surroundings while Eln got to work, she wasn't specifically watching for hunters. Instead, she took a moment to quietly scan the forest for anything interesting, her eyes lighting up ever so slightly whenever they caught a glimpse of a small animal or odd plant before her gaze finally landed back on Eln. The man hadn't said anything for a while, and he did look pretty focused on the task at hand, and maaaaybe she should try not to distract him too much, but...

Oh, screw it. She just couldn't help herself.

"I have a question," she blurted out suddenly, not bothering to wait for a response from Eln before continuing. "Why is it always 'Lady' Axia? You don't need to say that if you don't want to, you know. I'm not actually a 'Lady'." Okay, nope, that definitely didn't sound right. It was probably best to clarify what she meant. "Wait, no. I mean, I guess I am a lady. Just not, like, a 'Lady' lady. Like a 'proper' lady? Um... what I mean is that people don't usually call me 'Lady'. I'm not a noble or anything, soooo... usually it's just Axia. Or, uh... sometimes decidedly less nice names."

Eln returned to his cloak and dropped a hefty armful of sticks on it. He had just turned away to gather more when the woman spoke up again. He faced her again and stood patiently, expression neutral, while he waited for her to finish. Finally, she began to trail off, and then stopped talking altogether. The silence was deafening as he tried to pull forth that simple query from so very many words. "You are a woman," he said finally, in a tone that implied that the rest was obvious. "A woman leads. A man serves so that she may lead. This is the way of things."

With that, he turned and continued to gather, until his cloak was stacked with as much firewood as it could carry. He wrapped the hood and hem up over it and hoisted the burden up over his shoulder with a grunt. "It is enough for now," he informed her as he made for the boulder in the field again. "Come."

It was a puzzling answer for sure- in Axia's experience, what Eln had described was quite often very much not the way of things. Maybe that was just the way they did things in... wherever the heck it was that he was from. Yet another bit of information she'd have to add to her gradually growing knowledge base about him. It was progress, at least!

She nodded and began to follow behind when Eln told her to follow, only to quicken her pace a moment later to walk along side him, tilting her head up to offer him a smile. "So. Do you know how to start a fire? I'm guessing you do, right? You do seem like the type. But if you do need any help with it, well..." Her eyes lit up with an excited (or perhaps mischievous) sparkle. "Just give me the word. I'm pretty good at that kinda thing."

Eln slowed. He glanced at Lady Axia and then looked pointedly at the billowing black smoke on the horizon before turning back at her. "Yes," he said warily. "You have proven as much." He picked up the pace again without elaborating any further. He did not like the thought of her using that witch magic again. It was also clear that she could not control it — that it was a primal force of nature with a will of its own. She might just as soon set the meadow ablaze.

At last, he reached the boulder that marked where he had stowed the bulbs he had dug, and set his laden cloak on the grass with a thud. He began to clear a circle to make the fire, and for a while, he focused on this task in silence. Then he spoke up.

"Tell me of your people, Lady Axia."

Oh. OH. He was asking her to talk about herself?! This was going to be good.

"Ohhhh man. Where do I start? Let's see... alright. So, I'm what's called a 'dragon'. Remember- the big scaly flying lizard thing from before? That's what you could call my 'true form'. As in, that's how I was born. I mean, I wasn't born exactly like that- of course I was a lot smaller back then. Actually, I'm still pretty small in comparison to a lot of dragons. Guess it's 'cause I'm also pretty young for a dragon. We can get to be pretty old, you know. I might even be older than you! But I dunno, I never really bothered to keep track of that kind of thing.

"Anyways- dragons. They're big, they're strong. Tend to be a bit on the territorial side. A lot of them keep these things called 'hoards' where they collect a bunch of stuff and put it in one place so they can... well, they don't really tend to do much of anything with it. I guess they just like knowing that they have it or something like that? Personally, I don't see the appeal of it- always seemed like a big hassle to me, and it's not like I have anywhere to keep one anyway. I don't really like sticking to one place too much, after all.

"Oh, right. Remember that dragon you found earlier that the hunters shot down? Had a sort of bracelet-looking thing? That was an Adelan dragon. Adela- that's where you are, by the way- kind of has a thing for them. They have a whole system where they can bond with 'em and then they go flying around together. Killing one of them is considered, like, basically one of the worst crimes you can commit. Probably why those hunters were so on edge when you bumped into them, now that I think about it. As for other dragons like myself, we're decently well protected? Not as well as the ones they bond with, but I think you'd still get in pretty big trouble for hunting one, so it's a relatively safe place for me."

She finally stopped to take a breath and actually think about what she'd told him so far, before nodding to herself in satisfaction. "Yeah, I'd say that about covers the basics. Want me to elaborate on anything?"

By the time she had finished, Eln had cleared a sizeable circle down to the dirt, stacked the firewood and kindling and charcloth, drawn flint and pyrite from a pouch, and begun to spark it. He tilted his head and eyed her as he worked. "No," he said at first. Then he thought more on what she had said. "Yes," he corrected himself. He lowered the stones and met her gaze. "The dead one. The hunted one. It was like you? It could speak, and...reason? And they kill your kind?" He grimaced at the thought, but he needed to know. "For what purpose? To what end? For meat? Or...for a god?"

"Oh, you know. For teeth. Scales. Maybe bones? Basically anything that you could reasonably sell as some sort of trophy or good luck charm. People will pay a lot for that stuff since it's pretty hard to get, for obvious reasons." She answered rather impassively as she knelt down near him, her attention drawn to the steadily dwindling embers. The idea of her kind being hunted for profit was evidentially not a new concept for her. "But yes, it could speak. Not like we're speaking to each other, though. When they bond with someone, they can communicate without speaking. It's... pretty intense. I've heard that a lot of bonded partners never recover if one of them dies."

The more she went on, the more stricken he became. These people...these creatures...they weren't hunted for meat, or in defense, or even in the name of a god. They were hunted for sport. For trophies. For gold. Lady Axia, young as she was, spoke of it like one would discuss the rain or the changing of the seasons. She had seen such violence early and often, then. Eln knelt in quiet fury until she finished. He shot another worried glance over his shoulder at the treeline before returning his attention to her. "If I had known this..." He shook his head, frustrated by his own murky mind. "To kill a conscious thing for one's greed alone, I..."

He sighed and collected his thoughts. "I cannot abide it," he finished. "They will find no mercy here." He nodded earnestly at her, took up his fire rocks, and began to spark them again.

Eln's solemn response took Axia rather by surprise- of course, they were dealing with some dark subject matter, but considering everything they'd been through so far, she honestly didn't think that what she'd said was particularly shocking. If there was one lesson that had been drilled into her countless times as a hatchling- even if she constantly ignored it- it was that the wilderness could be a dangerous place, even for the strongest of creatures. Still though, this was clearly something that he felt strongly about, and she didn't wish to risk invalidating those feelings by pushing back too much.

"Well. In that case, I bet you'll fit in pretty well in Adela- if you do end up wanting to stay here, that is. Maybe meet some more dragons! I'm sure they'll appreciate the extra protection." She offered him what she hoped was a reassuring enough smile, before returning to a more neutral expression as her head tilted in thought. "I have to admit, though... I'm a little bit surprised. I wasn't really expecting such a strong reaction. I mean... it's not like those hunters weren't going to attack you. They were willing to kill whoever they needed to in order to make their profits, dragon or otherwise. I guess I don't see much of a difference between them and regular old bandits."

He did not stop this time, but kept on with the sparks until the charcloth caught. But he listened, nonetheless. And when she was done, he thought on the subject for a while longer, and his mind slid between his darkest memories. She was not wrong: an outsider would not hear what he had just said and fully grasp his meaning. When the kindling caught and the fire needed no more tending for the moment, he turned back to her.

"We were hunters," he said. "My people. We were chosen to reap for our god. We fought each other in His name, but...never for gold, or for parts, or to satisfy some thrill. We killed to feed Him and to feed ourselves. There is honor in some ways of killing, Lady Axia. And there is dishonor in others."

He paused. He contemplated the rest and wondered if he should set it aside. It came forth anyway in a cold, dead monotone.

"We were harvested by outsiders — first for our blood, and then for our horns. For gold. For greed. It is an ugly thing to witness. Senseless. Had I died in a skirmish with the hunters, as you say...so be it. They were not there to profit from my corpse. It is not the same."

"Oh. That's..."

Axia trailed off and considered his answer for a moment, staring deep into the growing fire as she thought to herself before eventually turning to meet his gaze. She still struggled to fully accept his argument- they would still be killing for their own selfish reasons, wouldn't they? Did it really make that much of a difference whether they killed someone to harvest parts or killed simply because someone got in their way? At the end of the day, someone was dead when they didn't have to be. But from the way he spoke and the look he gave her, she could tell that digging further probably wasn't a great idea.

For the first time in a while, the dragon found herself at a loss for words. What was the right way to respond to something like that? Should she be apologizing for asking the question? Try to console him, maybe? Did he even want her to say anything in response? She'd never been great at navigating conversations when they got too serious. They made her feel trapped, like there was no good answer for her to give. And she really didn't like feeling trapped, so instead, she decided to not-so-subtly try to shift topics.

"...Um. Are you still afraid of me?"

Lady Axia went quiet. This, Eln thought, was strange for her. In the short time that he had known her, she had scarcely stopped to draw breath. It made that silence hang all the heavier. He tended to the fire and allowed her the space that she needed to ruminate on the subject...or on whatever other place her mind had turned to. When it came time, he buried the bulbs he'd gathered in hot ashes and waited for them to cook.

He had just sat back from his work when she spoke up again. That sudden break in silence startled him. Or perhaps he was simply yet uneasy in the presence of a witch. He considered her question, though by the way he had just jolted at it, the Lady Axia already had her answer. Still, he thought he owed her a proper explanation.

"Not you," he replied solemnly. "Or I would not stay here and cook for you. It is your nature. The power that you wield. The...memory that it calls forth. That is what I fear." He inclined his head in apology. "Not you," he repeated.

"...I see. You mean my magic, then." She nodded, thankfully deciding against giving him another brief demonstration. While she couldn't say that fear of magic was particularly common around these parts, she supposed she couldn't blame him too much for being cautious, especially after witnessing the kind of destruction she was capable of. "So when I grabbed your arm back then, it must have been pretty frightening...

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- it's just, well, sometimes I guess I just kind of do things without thinking them through all that much. And there wasn't much time, and... I'm making excuses, aren't I? Okay, the point is that I'm not going to do that anymore if you don't want me to."

With that, her attention shifted down to the ashes piled on top of the bulbs. She frowned a bit at the sight, clearly confused and unsure of the reason for his doing so. She'd never been a particularly neat or picky eater, but... surely getting food dirty on purpose wasn't going to make it taste any better, right? It took a moment of her shifting her focus between the fire and the ashes for her to make the connection.

"Oh!" She looked back up at him, her eyes practically sparkling with excitement and curiosity. "That's so smart! I gotta try that out myself sometime. How'd you learn to do that?"

He regarded Lady Axia quietly as she spoke. She was not wrong: she was wont to act impulsively. He had assumed that this was a matter of her age, though, and not inherent to her nature. Still, she seemed now to understand the nature of the fear that she had evoked, and that showed a wisdom he had not expected of her. "Thank you," he said simply, and inclined his head. He gave her an odd look, however, as she asked him about the bulbs. Did she not know how to cook?

"The men of my clan taught me this and many other ways to survive," he explained. "Did your people not pass down knowledge in song and demonstration?"

"Erm, not really? I mean, I did learn how to hunt and fly and stuff like that, but dragons tend to be pretty solitary once they hit a certain age. Gotta carve out their territory and build up their hoard or whatever. Anyways, they didn't teach me how to cook or anything like that. 'Cause dragon's don't usually... cook. Mostly they just hunt animals down and eat 'em raw. But this form doesn't usually handle the whole 'eating stuff raw' thing very well, so cooking is definitely something I've been wanting to learn about more. Mostly I just try to learn by watching what humans do since they seem to have a pretty good handle on it, and if what they make is okay for them to eat, it's probably okay for me too, right?" Axia answered him earnestly and eagerly- if there was any judgement or condescension behind his question, she was apparently quite oblivious to it.